When I reviewed Shiraz, the little purple bunker at the south
end of Hollis, I promptly fell in love with Persian food. Each time I
toted my lunch out of this impossibly tiny restaurant, I wished the
place was bigger and closer to home.
It seems Shiraz owner Ebby Gholami was thinking along the same
lines: Parseh Shiraz opened in the Stardust Motel last October, in the
former home of the ill-fated Bedford Prime steakhouse.
The interior retains the steakhouse’s touches, like real hardwood
floors and beautiful wine racks, while adding an Iranian feel with
various Persian musical instruments on display.
It’s a lovely, relaxed atmosphere with the food firmly established
as the centrepiece. We start with the combination platter ($12.95)—a
variety of dips and spreads with pita bread. Kashke-bademjan (pureed
eggplant with yogurt sauce), delightful dolmeh (stuffed grape leaves),
hummus, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, Greek olives and mast-o-khiar
(yogurt with mint and cucumber) combine to set expectations for what’s
to follow. Everything is delicious, but the dolmehs are exceptional.
Smaller than the grape leaves typically served, these cigar-shaped
packages are filled with rice and mint, parsley and tarragon. It’s
obvious these didn’t come from a can and our server confirms they’re
made by a friend of the owner.
Turshi ($3.95) is a wake-up for the taste buds; this puree of
marinated vegetables is vinegary and cuts through smoother textures of
the hummus and kashke-bademjan nicely. A Persian soup called ash
reshteh ($4.95) highlights spinach, pinto beans and noodles; garnished
with fried mint and garlic, it’s fabulously complex.
Main courses live up to the promise of the starters. Chicken curry
stew ($9.95), in a tomato-based curry sauce, packs a hot wallop without
sacrificing flavour or your tongue. Fesenjon stew ($12.95) is a turnoff
at first with its mud-brown, sludgy texture, but this is fantastic.
Chicken, walnuts and pomegranate juice come together beautifully unlike
anything I’ve eaten in Halifax.
Our server has a remarkable memory. He recognizes me from a visit
two months ago, pointing out where I sat and describing who I was with.
Pretty impressive—enough to allow me to overlook his only slip, which
was to remove the wine list much too quickly. Otherwise, the service is
seamless—warm, friendly and knowledgeable.
We finish with a portion of excellent baklava, a less sweet version
of its Greek cousin, and Persian saffron rice pudding.
Because the restaurant is located in a notorious black hole for
eateries—the past-its-prime Stardust Motel—I worry about longevity
potential. (The only notable exception to this address’ short-lived
residency was Zorba’s, which moved on to bigger digs.) To drum up
interest with nearby office lunchers, Parseh offers a lunch buffet
which features more familiar foods (such as salmon) for less
adventurous Western diners, in addition to house specialties. I hear
it’s been moderately successful—an encouraging sign, since I’d hate
to see Parseh close. This restaurant deserves to succeed.
I do have one small quibble, though: I’ve never been offered the
“crispy” rice that typically comes with Persian meals. That’s the rice
that sticks to the sides of the pot when cooking and is considered a
special treat. Next time, I’m asking.
Do you get enough crispy rice? Email food@thecoast.ca with sightings.
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This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2009.
I have fallen in love with this restaurant! The food is delicious and the staff are friendly and helpful. I’ve been there twice in the last three days!! Well worth the trip off of the penninsula 🙂
Crispy rice’s best name is cocolón, in South American cooking
Really?
Odd, We were there last saturday afternoon and we just decided to leave after sitting down for 2 minutes. The waitress was sweeping the floor. When we walked in, she asked if we’re here to eat and just to sit where we like, no greeting mind you.
dropped off the menu and went back to sweeping. Didn’t ask if we were interested in a drink, didn’t enlighten us if there was a special or anything like that. As soon as we walked in, we presumed it was the cook, was standing by the kitchen door, staring like he never actually saw humans before. We sat down at a table. He actually made the effort in getting closer to our table and continued staring for no reason. When we expressed dissatisfaction with his actions, the waitress was frustrated that we didn’t like someone staring at us for the whole entire time we were there. Very uncomfortable!!!
That’s our experience at Parish
I found the food at this restaurant to be ok. However, my brother and his family just loved the exerpience. I will definitely give it another try. I also found the service to be much better than a lot of other Bedford establishments; such as, the Cellar. You could go there three times per week and the staff would look at you like they have never seen you before – I find that very strange
We’ve had good experiences every time we’ve been there and have been offered the crispy rice 🙂